A gas turbine engine generally includes a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. Additionally, the core of the gas turbine engine general includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. In operation, air is provided from the fan to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section and is then routed through the exhaust section, e.g., to atmosphere.
More commonly, non-traditional high temperature materials, such as ceramic matrix composite (CMC) materials, are being used as structural components within gas turbine engines. For example, given an ability for CMC materials to withstand relatively extreme temperatures, there is particular interest in replacing components within the combustion section of the gas turbine engine with CMC materials. For example, typical combustion sections include an inner liner, an outer liner, and a dome. More commonly, the inner and outer liners are being formed of CMC materials, while the dome is formed of a metal material.
However, certain gas turbine engines have had problems accommodating certain mechanical properties of the CMC materials incorporated therein. For example, CMC materials have different coefficients of thermal expansion than the traditional metal materials. Therefore, the attachment of the inner and outer CMC liners to the metal dome may require a fairly complicated attachment assembly. Additionally, such a configuration may complicate mounting of the combustor assembly within the gas turbine engine, given that a majority of the components surrounding the combustor assembly are formed of a metal material.
Accordingly, a combustor assembly capable of being mounted within a gas turbine engine in a manner to allow an anticipated amount of thermal expansion of the CMC components would be particularly beneficial.